Former Player: Dion Dublin

Dion Dublin started his career with Norwich City, where he came through the ranks. However he didn’t break into the team and was eventually released on a free transfer. During his first spell with the Canaries, Dublin was recognised as a centre back, but it was at his second club, Cambridge, where his potential at the other end of the pitch was noticed.

Dion, in his new striker position, played a massive 156 games for the club as a very young man, and scored a brilliant 52 goals. This drew the attention of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester united, the latter of whom snapped him up for £1million. Dion scored in the fourth game of his first United season, but suffered a broken leg not long afterwards and United signed Eric Cantona, by the time he had recovered he was out of favour at the club and made just 12 appearances in total before moving on, this time to Coventry.

At Coventry, Dion established himself as a top striker and formed a formidable partnership with Darren Huckerby. Dublin scored 61 goals for Coventry, finishing top scorer in the 1997-98 season and controversially being left out of the England Squad for Euro 98.

In 1998 he signed for Aston Villa in a £5.75 million deal – he impressed for the club before in 1999 he gained a not only career-threatening but life-threatening injury to his neck. He needed a titanium plate to fix the issue and spent some time on the sidelines. In spite of this he managed to recover, and scored 48 goals for Villa.

Dublin eventually fell out of contention at Aston Villa, and after spending some time on loan at Championship Millwall, he joined Leicester City on a free transfer in 2004. He spent less than two years at the club and returned to his Centre back position at the club. He left in 2006 on a free transfer before being snapped up by Gordon Strachan of Celtic. He played just 11 games here, scoring in the Scottish Cup final, but was only ever a backup and again left on a free.

In a stunning finale to his career, Dion rejoined Norwich City for a second spell in 2006. He played 70 games for the club and scored 12 goals, alternating between centre back and centre forward positions. Dublin was in the twilight of his career but still put in an impressive string of performances at a high level of football, achieving cult status among the Norwich fans.

During his career, Dublin made 4 appearances for England, though many see this as a complete travesty considering his knack of scoring goals and leadership skills.

Nowadays, Dion is promoting the instrument he invented, the Dube, and has even appeared on stage with Ocean Colour Scene since moving to a musical career. Dion has also made a lot of TV appearances for BBC and Sky since his retirement.